The International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) is pleased to launch an exclusive initiative that will select highly motivated Tibetan-American undergraduate and graduate students for a unique six- to eight-week summer internship placement in US Congressional offices in Washington, DC.

The Washington Internship Program for Tibetan-Americans (WIPTA) is part of ICT’s effort to empower the burgeoning Tibetan-American community by providing them with meaningful opportunities and exposure to the American political process and by fostering their civic engagement.

In light of the passing away of Lodi Gyari, former ICT President and Chair of the Board of Directors, ICT has chosen to honor his legacy by naming this program after him. Gyari, who died on Oct. 29, 2018, cared deeply about advocacy for Tibet and empowerment of the Tibetan people. Accordingly, the participants in WIPTA will be known as Lodi Gyari Fellows.

Lodi Gyari and other ICT staff with the 2002 participants of the Tibetan Youth Leadership Program.

The International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) is pleased to launch an exclusive initiative that will select highly motivated Tibetan-American undergraduate and graduate students for a unique six- to eight-week summer internship placement in US Congressional offices in Washington, DC.

The Washington Internship Program for Tibetan-Americans (WIPTA) is part of ICT’s effort to empower the burgeoning Tibetan-American community by providing them with meaningful opportunities and exposure to the American political process and by fostering their civic engagement.

In light of the passing away of Lodi Gyari, former ICT President and Chair of the Board of Directors, ICT has chosen to honor his legacy by naming this program after him. Gyari, who died on Oct. 29, 2018, cared deeply about advocacy for Tibet and empowerment of the Tibetan people. Accordingly, the participants in WIPTA will be known as Lodi Gyari Fellows.

“The selected Lodi Gyari fellows will gain a comprehensive experience in the workings of the political system on Capitol Hill,” said Tencho Gyatso, coordinator of the program. “The Tibetan-American community population has reached a critical mass, and this program will help utilize their strength and enable them to play a positive role in the American political system,” Gyatso added.

Lodi Gyari Fellows will take part in a six- to eight-week summer internship program to experience American politics and public policy. They will gain a firsthand view of the policymaking and legislative process, as well as access to high-profile leaders in Washington, DC.

Selected candidates will be required to participate in WIPTA orientation and training programs, complete weekly journals and submit a program evaluation at the end of the internship.

The program provides each participant with round-trip airfare within the continental US and a stipend to cover housing and other expenses.

Detailed program eligibility and application information is available at savetibet.org.

The International Campaign for Tibet is among several NGOS that sent a letter to the UN Human Rights Council urging it to pass a resolution at its upcoming session “expressing collective concern about worsening rights abuse in China and the government’s failure to follow through on its obligations and commitments.”

The joint letter, dated Jan. 30, 2019, says that such a resolution should “urge prompt, unfettered and independent access to all parts of the country, in particular Uyghur, other Turkic Muslim and Tibetan areas, by independent international human rights experts, including the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and relevant UN Special Rapporteurs.”

The letter adds, “Resisting efforts by China to shield itself from international scrutiny, analysis, and reporting is essential to preventing widespread impunity for violations which, in some cases and based on available reporting, may amount to crimes against humanity. This resistance has the greatest, and perhaps only, chance of success when conducted jointly, and when backed by a multi-pronged multilateral and bilateral effort.”

]]>The International Campaign for Tibet is among several NGOS that sent a letter to the UN Human Rights Council urging it to pass a resolution at its upcoming session “expressing collective concern about worsening rights abuse in China and the government’s failure to follow through on its obligations and commitments.”

The joint letter, dated Jan. 30, 2019, says that such a resolution should “urge prompt, unfettered and independent access to all parts of the country, in particular Uyghur, other Turkic Muslim and Tibetan areas, by independent international human rights experts, including the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and relevant UN Special Rapporteurs.”

The letter adds, “Resisting efforts by China to shield itself from international scrutiny, analysis, and reporting is essential to preventing widespread impunity for violations which, in some cases and based on available reporting, may amount to crimes against humanity. This resistance has the greatest, and perhaps only, chance of success when conducted jointly, and when backed by a multi-pronged multilateral and bilateral effort.”

The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China’s 2018 report on media freedoms in that country underscores the need for overseas journalists and citizens to have reciprocal access to Tibet, the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) said today.

The report, titled “Under Watch: Reporting in China’s Surveillance State,” documents the severe restrictions China places on members of the international media who attempt to cover Tibet, a historically independent country that China has occupied and ruled with an iron fist for 70 years.

]]>The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China’s 2018 report on media freedoms in that country underscores the need for overseas journalists and citizens to have reciprocal access to Tibet, the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) said today.

The report, titled “Under Watch: Reporting in China’s Surveillance State,” documents the severe restrictions China places on members of the international media who attempt to cover Tibet, a historically independent country that China has occupied and ruled with an iron fist for 70 years.

“Off limits”

The report—which is based on a survey of more than 100 correspondents in China from 31 countries and regions—notes that Chinese regulations allow reporters to travel anywhere in the country except for the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), an area that is around half the size of historical Tibet. One unnamed reporter from the United Kingdom is quoted in the report as saying, “I was explicitly told reporting on Xinjiang or Tibet was off limits.”

The other half of the Tibetan areas are incorporated into Qinghai, Sichuan, Yunnan and Gansu provinces and are theoretically open to foreigners.

Despite this, the report says that two of the four correspondents in the survey who tried to report on Tibetan areas outside the TAR were told by authorities that their reporting was restricted or prohibited.

Xinjiang, known to Uyghurs as East Turkestan, is the site of notorious internment camps where about 1 million Uyghurs have been jailed because of their ethnicity and religion. Chen Quanguo, the Chinese Communist Party secretary in Xinjiang, held the same position in the TAR earlier this decade.

Followed and detained in Tibet

The report mentions specific cases of reporters who were harassed inside Tibet.

In February 2018, New York Times reporter Steven Lee Myers and a photographer were detained for nearly 17 hours after trying to cover a New Year ceremony at the Dzongsar monastery, located in the Tibetan area of present-day Sichuan. They were prevented from using their phones and reprimanded by police before being escorted to the closest airport.

The next month, Le Monde bureau Chief Brice Pedroletti was followed repeatedly in the Tibetan area of Ngaba (Chinese: Aba). Local officials offered him “help” and “assistance,” and despite being rejected by Pedroletti, they continued to follow him.

Need for reciprocity

Hanna Sahlberg, president of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club, observed that China’s growing repression of foreign media comes at the same time that Chinese state media are expanding overseas and spreading Beijing’s propaganda around the globe.

“By documenting China’s Orwellian efforts to restrict international media in Tibet, the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China has demonstrated why RATA is so vital,” said ICT Vice President Bhuchung K. Tsering. “We look forward to working with the State Department to fully implement this law and to continuing to fight for reporters’ access to Tibet.”

The Board of Advisors of the Rowell Fund for Tibet has selected five Tibetan grantees for financial support totaling $ $34,469 for 2019. The winners were chosen from 26 project proposals and these will be carried out in the Tibetan community in India and other countries.

John Ackerly, a member of the Rowell Fund for Tibet Board of Advisors, said: "We want to congratulate the grant recipients this year. They carry on the spirit of adventure, social activism and social service that Galen and Barbara Rowell lived by. Friends and family of Galen and Barbara still help raise the funds for these grants, and we are the ones who decide who gets the grants. I can speak for all of us in saying that reading the applications about all the great work that Tibetans and Tibetan groups are doing, gives us inspiration and motivation to keep this fund going."

The Rowell Fund for Tibet was established in 2003 in memory of the late Galen Rowell and his wife Barbara who died tragically in a plane crash in 2002. Galen Rowell was an internationally known outdoor photographer whose “Rainbow over the Potala Palace” has become an iconic photo for adventure travelers and Tibet watchers.

]]>The Board of Advisors of the Rowell Fund for Tibet has selected five Tibetan grantees for financial support totaling $34,469 for 2019. The winners were chosen from 26 project proposals and these will be carried out in the Tibetan community in India and other countries.

John Ackerly, a member of the Rowell Fund for Tibet Board of Advisors, said: “We want to congratulate the grant recipients this year. They carry on the spirit of adventure, social activism and social service that Galen and Barbara Rowell lived by. Friends and family of Galen and Barbara still help raise the funds for these grants, and we are the ones who decide who gets the grants. I can speak for all of us in saying that reading the applications about all the great work that Tibetans and Tibetan groups are doing, gives us inspiration and motivation to keep this fund going.”

The Rowell Fund for Tibet was established in 2003 in memory of the late Galen Rowell and his wife Barbara who died tragically in a plane crash in 2002. Galen Rowell was an internationally known outdoor photographer whose “Rainbow over the Potala Palace” has become an iconic photo for adventure travelers and Tibet watchers.

The Rowell Fund for Tibet was established by friends and family of Galen and Barbara, in cooperation with the International Campaign for Tibet, and aims to support the work of Tibetans communicating issues of importance to broader Tibetan or international audiences through photography, film-making, writing, journalism, and other projects. It is part of our Lodi Gyari Tibetan Empowerment Program.

Tenzing Sonam, Dharamsala, creation of a user-friendly online resource to host the photo/documentary archives relating to the Tibetan resistance movement in the collection of late Lhamo Tsering and various video and other visual material gathered during the making of The Shadow Circus: The CIA in Tibet. Radio Journalism club

Community radio station, Tashi Delek 90.4FM, in Dharamsala, aimed at the Tibetan-speaking community in the area, for strengthening its program.

Two of the selected projects are confidential ones, as requested by the grantees and considering the nature of the projects and where they are being implemented.

The Advisory Board of the Rowell Fund includes: John Ackerly, Conrad Anker, David Breashears, Jimmy Chin, Bob and Beth Cushman, John Jancik, Terre Baker, Bob Palais, Tony Rowell and Forrest Ryan. The Fund is managed by the International Campaign for Tibet.

For more information on the Rowell Fund in general please contact rowellfund@savetibet.org

The Boards of the International Campaign for Tibet have decided to name the different Tibetan empowerment programs undertaken by our organization as the Lodi Gyari Tibetan Empowerment Program to honor his contribution and memory.

Mr. Gyari, the retired Special Envoy of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, senior official of the Central Tibetan Administration, and Executive Chairman of the International Campaign for Tibet, passed away on October 29, 2018 in San Francisco. Mr. Gyari had served as the Special Envoy of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Washington DC while simultaneously holding the position of the President of the International Campaign for Tibet. During his tenure, Mr. Gyari was able to make profound political, economic and social contributions to the Tibetan cause. Through building on the visits by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and undertaking effective follow up initiatives, Mr. Gyari was able to successfully institutionalize the Tibetan issue within the United States government.

He was an impassioned advocate for the Tibetan people and believed that they should be empowered to take the lead in the Tibetan movement. Accordingly, during his tenure, the different offices of the International Campaign for Tibet initiated several programs aimed at benefiting the Tibetan people. They include the Tibetan Youth Leadership Program; The Rowell Fund for Tibet; Tibet Lobby Day; Tibetan Parliamentarians Program in Europe; and humanitarian assistance to the Tibetans in exile.

]]>The Boards of the International Campaign for Tibet have decided to name the different Tibetan empowerment programs undertaken by our organization as the Lodi Gyari Tibetan Empowerment Program to honor his contribution and memory.

Mr. Gyari, the retired Special Envoy of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, senior official of the Central Tibetan Administration, and Executive Chairman of the International Campaign for Tibet, passed away on October 29, 2018 in San Francisco. Mr. Gyari had served as the Special Envoy of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Washington DC while simultaneously holding the position of the President of the International Campaign for Tibet. During his tenure, Mr. Gyari was able to make profound political, economic and social contributions to the Tibetan cause. Through building on the visits by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and undertaking effective follow up initiatives, Mr. Gyari was able to successfully institutionalize the Tibetan issue within the United States government.

He was an impassioned advocate for the Tibetan people and believed that they should be empowered to take the lead in the Tibetan movement. Accordingly, during his tenure, the different offices of the International Campaign for Tibet initiated several programs aimed at benefiting the Tibetan people. They include the Tibetan Youth Leadership Program; The Rowell Fund for Tibet; Tibet Lobby Day; Tibetan Parliamentarians Program in Europe; and humanitarian assistance to the Tibetans in exile.

These programs support the vision of the Dalai Lama in encouraging the Tibetan Diaspora towards democratization of their governance system and to make the Tibetan community self-reliant, empowered to make decisions affecting their life, now and in the future, and to safeguard their rights.

By dedicating these programs to the memory of Mr. Gyari, the International Campaign for Tibet is committing itself to continuing his work for the empowerment of the Tibetan people, in Tibet as well as in exile.

“Lodi Gyari has blazed the trail for Tibetans on the international scene, demonstrating a unique capacity to interact with leaders of democratic countries to embrace and support the vision of His Holiness the Dalai Lama for a peaceful solution to the Tibetan crisis. While leading ICT for over two decades, Lodi Gyari has made the empowerment of Tibetan communities in exile an integral and strategic part of our work that continue to this day. We are therefore very proud to rename these program after him not only to honor this extraordinary legacy, but to keep it alive for the younger generations of Tibetans,” said Matteo Mecacci, President of the International Campaign for Tibet.

The Lodi Gyari Tibetan Empowerment Programs consist of the following:

1. Tibetan Youth Leadership Program:

A week-long program in Washington, D.C. that provides a select group of engaged Tibetan American youngsters with a rich environment for understanding the American political process, exchanging information and ideas, and building a network of future leaders. Some participants of this program have subsequently been working in the United States Congress and Administration.

2. Tibet Lobby Day:

The annual Tibet Lobby Day is a powerful tool for empowering Tibetans living in the west. We bring together Tibetans and Tibet supporters to come and lobby members of Parliament and their staff to achieve set strategic objectives. These include urgent matters concerning political prisoners to passing of legislations affecting the Tibetan people. The Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act of 2018 was one such initiative taken up during the Tibet Lobby Days in the past few years.

3. Rowell Fund for Tibet:

The Rowell Fund for Tibet, established by friends and family of Galen and Barbara Rowell, in cooperation with the International Campaign for Tibet, has for years supported Tibetans whose work can make a significant contribution in the fields of visual arts, the environment, media and women’s rights. The fund is managed by ICT and has impacted the lives of several hundred Tibetan artists and other professionals.

4. Tibetan Parliamentarians Program in Europe:

ICT Europe has a program to bring delegations of Tibetan Parliamentarians for a study tour of Europe. The delegation meets with Parliamentarians and other leaders, cultural visits and opportunity to share and discuss a wide range of issues relating Tibet.

5. Humanitarian Assistance to the Tibetan community:

ICT Germany has been undertaking a focused humanitarian assistance initiative with the Tibetan Children’s Village in India that includes funding for health and education of the Tibetan children, in order to safeguard Tibetan children’s right to education and health.

6. Political Prisoners Rehabilitation Program:

ICT has a Political Prisoners Rehabilitation Program that includes assisting former political prisoners in different ways. They include monetary support and assistance in rehabilitation. Currently, ICT Europe provides assistance to a select group of former political prisoners to empower them by facilitating them to become politically active, assist them to develop the necessary skills, in order for them to present their case to politicians, media and the public at large, and help them with publications or translations of their memoirs, experiences or visions.

The Rowell Fund for Tibet's Board of Advisors has decided to award funds for 2018 to six projects that deal with Education, Elderly Care, Photography, and Archival of Tibet heritage documents. The Fund will award $37,320 to applicants for projects throughout Asia in memory of lifelong Tibet supporters, Galen and Barbara Rowell, who died in a plane crash in 2002.

The Fund received 34 applications from Tibetans in Tibet and outside for this grant cycle.

"It is nice to be part of this hugely beneficial program that honors the legacy of our friends and family, Galen and Barbara and their contributions to the survival and thriving of Tibetan culture and environment," said Bob Palais, a member of the Board of Advisors of Rowell Fund for Tibet.

]]>The Rowell Fund for Tibet’s Board of Advisors has decided to award funds for 2018 to six projects that deal with Education, Elderly Care, Photography, and Archival of Tibet heritage documents. The Fund will award $37,320 to applicants for projects throughout Asia in memory of lifelong Tibet supporters, Galen and Barbara Rowell, who died in a plane crash in 2002.

The Fund received 34 applications from Tibetans in Tibet and outside for this grant cycle.

“It is nice to be part of this hugely beneficial program that honors the legacy of our friends and family, Galen and Barbara and their contributions to the survival and thriving of Tibetan culture and environment,” said Bob Palais, a member of the Board of Advisors of Rowell Fund for Tibet.

As avid mountaineers and outdoor photographers, Galen and Barbara Rowell helped bring Tibet and the Himalayas into the public eye. Their fund continues this legacy, providing small grants to Tibetan writers, academics, photographers, and conservationists. To learn more about Galen and Barbara Rowell and the background of the Rowell Fund, visit https://www.savetibet.org/about-ict/rowell-fund-tibet.

Some of this year’s grant recipients are:*

Helpwithbooks, Dharamsala, for mobile library at the Dhondenling Tibetan Settlement in Karnataka, India

Regional Tibetan Women’s Association and RTYC, Nepal, for elderly care program in the community

Thupten Kelsang, UK, for project on Tibetan material heritage

*We have not listed all projects as some of the recipients have requested confidentiality.

ICT and the Rowell Fund for Tibet wish to congratulate this year’s grant recipients. Past recipients have included Tibetans who have undertaken photography, filmmaking and related projects that have enriched the Tibetan society. The Advisory Board of the Fund includes friends and family of Galen & Barbara and includes John Ackerly, Conrad Anker, David Breashears, Jimmy Chin, Bob and Beth Cushman, John Jancik, Terri Baker, Bob Palais, Tony Rowell and Nicole Rowell Ryan. The International Campaign for Tibet manages the Fund.

A new report by the Australia Tibet Council finds an increased Chinese influence in Australia’s political and educational institutions, leading to the Australian Government’s diminished engagement on Tibet. The report finds that the Australian silence on Tibet is notable, with not a single public statement issued for nearly a decade, and with no Australian Prime Minister meeting the Dalai Lama since 2009 although he has visited the country five times during that period.

]]>A new report by the Australia Tibet Council finds an increased Chinese influence in Australia’s political and educational institutions, leading to the Australian Government’s diminished engagement on Tibet. The report finds that the Australian silence on Tibet is notable, with not a single public statement issued for nearly a decade, and with no Australian Prime Minister meeting the Dalai Lama since 2009 although he has visited the country five times during that period.

The report, Australia’s silence on Tibet: How China is shaping our agenda, was released in Australia’s Parliament House on Wednesday, September 13, 2017, in the presence of parliamentarians, including Senators Lisa Singh and Dean Smith, MPs Michael Danby, Mike Freelander, and David Feeney.

The report shows that covert pressure at universities, increasingly dependent on Chinese funding, has produced a culture of self-censorship in the Australian academic community. Australia is home to many acclaimed China scholars, but few are willing to engage in critical discussions about Tibet for fear of a backlash from the university management or Chinese students on campuses.

“Our report shows that the activities of key Chinese donors to Australia’s major political parties and universities are an integral part of China’s global mission to reshape the narrative on Tibet,” said Australia Tibet Council’s Campaigns Manager Kyinzom Dhongdue.

“China’s attempts to influence Australia’s foreign policy is a threat to both the Tibet movement and the strength of Australian democracy. Australia’s silence on Tibet contradicts its own values and diminishes its moral standing,” Dhongdue said.

The report called on the Australian Government to launch a full and independent inquiry into China’s attempts to influence policy and decision-making in Australia. It called on Australia to uphold its democratic principles and stand up for the Tibetan people by publicly endorsing Tibetan call for freedom and human rights in Tibet, by supporting Tibetan leadership’s efforts to find a resolution with the Chinese leadership, and by meeting the Dalai Lama at the highest level. The report also said Australia should join like-minded governments to initiate visible coordinated diplomatic action on Tibet.

The report urged the Australian Parliament to “initiate a vigorous and balanced debate over the many legitimate concerns brought to the fore by the revelations of China’s influence on Australian politics.”

It also called on the universities to protect their academic integrity by encouraging scholars and students to examine the Tibet issue openly and critically. It further said the universities should ensure that the programs at the Confucius Institutes are balanced and free of external pressures, by holding public lectures on topics that are relevant to Chinese culture and history but are currently forbidden – such as Tibet, the Dalai Lama, Taiwan and the Tiananmen Square massacre.

]]>The Dalai Lama visit to Washington, DC, June 12-16http://www.savetibet.org/the-dalai-lama-visit-to-washington-dc-june-12-16/
Fri, 10 Jun 2016 21:21:33 +0000http://www.savetibet.org/?p=19055June 10, 2016 Media Advisory The Dalai Lama is visiting Washington, DC, from June 12-16, with an itinerary opening with a public talk at American University’s Bender Arena on June 13 and a dialogue with young people from 13 countries facing conflict and violent extremism at the United States Institute of Peace. Details of main […]

The Dalai Lama is visiting Washington, DC, from June 12-16, with an itinerary opening with a public talk at American University’s Bender Arena on June 13 and a dialogue with young people from 13 countries facing conflict and violent extremism at the United States Institute of Peace.

Details of main events and press contacts follow below:

June 13: Public talk by the Dalai Lama at American University, Bender Arena, 1.30 – 3 PM

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi will offer greetings at the Dalai Lama’s public talk, “A Peaceful Mind in a Modern World” and Richard Gere, Chairman of the International Campaign for Tibet, will introduce the Dalai Lama. The talk is organized by the Capital Area Tibetan Association, a non-profit organization of Tibetans in the Washington DC metropolitan area.

At a recent two-day dialogue in India with 28 youth peacebuilders convened by USIP, the Dalai Lama discussed ways to use universal spiritual values, such as compassion, in transforming violent conflicts into peaceful dialogue. On June 13, the Dalai Lama will join a few of these leaders at USIP in Washington, DC, to extend that discussion. See:https://www.usip.org/events/the-dalai-lama-end-violence-engage-youth

The Dalai Lama will engage in dialogue with four young activists: Arzu Geybullayeva, journalist, Azerbaijan; Rosa Maria Payá, Cuba Decide; Azaz Elshami, Sudanese Digital activist and Rami Soud, Jordanian activist. N.E.D will present the Democracy Service Medal to honor the courageous work of the late Tibetan Buddhist Monk Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, a prominent political prisoner who died in prison in July, 2015.

Dharamsala - A delegation of Parliamentarians and former MPs arrived today in Dharamshala, India, to observe the Tibetan elections in exile, which will take place on Sunday March 20.

Tibetans in exile (around 150,000 living in over 30 countries) elect every five years both the political leader of the Central Tibetan Administration (Sikyong) and the Members of the Parliament in exile (45 seats) in two rounds. The preliminary elections took place on October 18, 2015. For the position of Sikyong two candidates will be competing this year, the incumbent Lobsang Sangay and the Speaker of the Parliament Penpa Tsering, while for the Parliament in exile 94 candidates are competing.

]]>Dharamsala – A delegation of Parliamentarians and former MPs arrived today in Dharamshala, India, to observe the Tibetan elections in exile, which will take place on Sunday March 20.

Tibetans in exile (around 150,000 living in over 30 countries) elect every five years both the political leader of the Central Tibetan Administration (Sikyong) and the Members of the Parliament in exile (45 seats) in two rounds. The preliminary elections took place on October 18, 2015. For the position of Sikyong two candidates will be competing this year, the incumbent Lobsang Sangay and the Speaker of the Parliament Penpa Tsering, while for the Parliament in exile 94 candidates are competing.

The 2016 Tibetan Election Observation Mission (TEOM) is an initiative by the International Network of Parliamentarians on Tibet coordinated by the International Campaign for Tibet and its goals are to support the democratic process chosen by Tibetans in exile to represent the aspirations of the Tibetan people. In 2011, the Dalai Lama decided to devolve his political authority to an elected leadership and subsequently amendments to the Tibetan Charter were made.

The international delegation is composed of the following members: Hon. Thomas Mann, Member of the European Parliament and Chair of the International Network of Parliamentarians on Tibet, Hon. Andre’ Gattolin, Senator (France), Hon. Lisa Singh, Senator (Australia), Hon. Consiglio di Nino, former Senator, Chair of Canada Tibet Committee (Canada), Hon. Norman Baker, former MP, President of UK Tibet Society (UK), Hon. Matteo Mecacci, former MP, President of the International Campaign for Tibet (Italy), Ms. Zsuzsa Anna, Assistant to Laszlo Tokes Member of the European Parliament (Hungary), Mr. Bhuchung Tsering, Vice President of the International Campaign for Tibet.

On March 19, the delegation will have briefings in Dharamsala with representatives of the Central Tibetan Administration, the Central Election Commission and NGOs and on March 20 will observe the voting process both in Dharamsala and Bir. After the elections the delegation will prepare a final report that would include recommendations based on agreed international standards of democracy.

On March 21 at 11.00, representatives of the Tibetan Election Observation Mission delegation will have a press conference to issue a statement on the elections in Dharamshala at the Department of Information and International Relations.